Sustainable Agriculture and Sustainable Food SystemsIntroduction 75

Lecture 1: A Brief History of Resistance to the 77 “Modernization” of Agriculture

Lecture 2: Imagining Alternatives 80

Lecture 3: Food Justice—Current Activities to Address 85 Social Justice Issues in the U.S. Food System

Discussion Questions, Lectures 1, 2, and 3 88

References and Resources 89

3.4

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Unit 3.4 | Part 3 – 75Sustainable Agriculture & Sustainable Food Systems

Introduction: Sustainable Agriculture & Sustainable Food Systems

Unit Overview

This unit draws on information presented in Units 3.1–3.3 to help students understand efforts to promote greater sustainability and justice in U.S. food and agriculture systems.

The first lecture presents a short history of efforts to resist agriculture’s moderniza-tion, a process that has been driven by increasingly capitalist relationships and the application of new technologies in agri-culture. The lecture summarizes early U.S. agrarian populism and efforts to resist the “scientization” of agriculture through the authority of expert knowledge associated with the Land Grant University complex. It then presents the origins of the organic agriculture movement, and describes the impact that Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring had on society and public policy. The resurgence of U.S. agrarian populism exemplified by Jim Hightower and Wendell Berry is then covered. The first lecture con-cludes with an introduction to the concept of “sustainability” in the literature and public discourse.

The second lecture reviews some of the initiatives to promote alternative visions of the U. S. food and agriculture system. It first explains various definitions and dimensions of “agricultural sustainability,” and explores the problems associated with this term. Students will be exposed to the criticism of the way that proponents of “sustainable agriculture” have tended to limit discussions of this issue to farms and farmers, ignoring the broader social con-

text of the food system of which the farm is one part. The lecture then introduces the concept of agroecology pioneered by Steve Gliessman and Miguel Altieri, and the application of ecological principles to the design and management of agroecosystems. The definition and requirements of certified organic food production and the growth and development of the “Organic” food industry over the last ten years are then discussed. This section further addresses concerns over the replication of social and environmental problems caused by the introduction of capitalist relations and federal stan-dards to organic production. The concepts of localizing food systems and creating more integrated relationships between producers and consumers is then introduced. The lecture concludes with a discussion of the difficulties and necessity of policy change needed to move toward greater agricultural sustainability.

The third lecture, on food justice, illustrates how systemic inequities in the food system give rise to movements for social justice and provides an introduction to the complexity, diversity, challenges, and opportunities facing movements for social justice in the food system. It also intends to engage students in a critical reflection on the potential of social movements for systemic change in the food system. The lecture identifies the social justice efforts in the U.S. food sys-tem. It discusses briefly the roots and branches—where the movement has grown from and is growing to. The lecture concludes by categorizing different types of solutions to food system problems (food enterprise, food security, food justice, food sovereignty), defining them, and discussing how the overall system can best be transformed.

MOdes Of instrUctiOn

> LeCtUReS (3 LeCtUReS, 50 MInUteS eACH)Three lectures cover the historical populist movements that have attempted to resist the industrialization of agriculture in the U.S., introduce the contemporary sus-tainable agriculture movements, and explore the social justice movement. References given in the outlines are described in the References and Resources section.

Introduction

Part 3 –76 | Unit 3.4 Sustainable Agriculture & Sustainable Food Systems

Learning Objectives

ConCeptS • Thecurrentfoodandagriculturesystemisnot

inevitable; many people and social movements have been working for decades to promote social justice and resource protection in this system. These efforts contest the direction the food system has taken.

• TheoutlineofU.S.agrarianpopulism,itsinfluence on U.S. culture, and its limited contemporary applicability

• Theimportanceofknowledgequestionsinthesearch for sustainable alternatives

• Thehistoryofpolicyinitiativestryingtopromote more socially just and environmentally responsible forms of agriculture in the U.S., and the challenges facing any effort to promote sustainability at the national level

• Theusefulnessandlimitationsofapplyingtheterm “sustainability” to agrofood systems

• Thevalue,complexity,andlimitationsoftheagroecological paradigm

• Thegrowthoforganicfoodproductionandthe role that U.S. government regulations have played in creating opportunities for organic agriculture that diverge from the original ideals of the organic farming movement

• The“thirdway”initiativesinpromotingecologically rational use of agrochemicals in conventional systems

• Thedifferenteffortsto“localize”thefoodsystem and the role they play in promoting sustainability

• Thereasonsfortheemergenceofafoodjusticemovement in the U.S.

• Therelationandsignificanceoffoodjusticewithin the larger U.S. food movement

• Dialogueontheroleofsocialmovementsinfood system transformation

Introduction

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Lecture 1: A Brief History of Resistance to the “Modernization” of Agriculture a. the current food system is not inevitable and reflects dominant social values—

alternatives will need to be rooted in the expression of alternative values (see thompson 1997) 1. the food system in the U.S. is an extreme example of industrialized agriculture (see Unit

3.1, Development of U.S. Agriculture) a) the scale of modern U.S. agriculture b) the concentration of ownership in modern U.S. agriculture c) the use of high technology and industrial processes in modern agriculture 2. For more than a century, critics have protested problematic trends in U.S. agriculture

mentioned in previous lectures in part 3, Social and environmental Issues in Agriculture a) What kind of food system would we have today if their advice had been heeded? b) Imagination is necessary to create alternatives. You cannot create a food system that

you cannot imagine. c) Values other than capitalism and profit will need to be injected into discussions and

decisions about agriculture and food to achieve any viable alternatives

b. early U.s. agrarian Populism (see Danbom 1997; McConnell 1959; Goodwyn 1978; Mooney and Majka 1995)

1. Major periods of struggle: 1866–1890; 1920s–1930s a) Common theme of two periods: efforts to protect small, independent farmers from

predatory practices of capitalism 2. First period took place as capital from the eastern seaboard began to dictate economic

choices to homestead small holders in the Upper Midwest a) Issues included transportation, economic concentration b) Agrarian populist movements that grew out of this resistance i. Grange network: Served as local forums for farmers to meet and discuss cooperative

action for the common good of local agriculture ii. Farmers Alliance: A political effort to promote farmer-owned cooperatives and

policies that supported them iii. populist party: A political party that ran candidates; it had a vision of agriculture more

in line with Jeffersonian democracy, and resisted the political power of railroads and powerful corporations

3. Second period: Agricultural depression foreshadowed national depression a) new Deal responses included: Alternative, communal farms; price supports; acreage

reduction programs b) Soil Conservation Service (now natural Resources Conservation Service, nRCS) grew out

of this era also 4. today: Is agrarian populism possible with the abolishment of subsistence and small-scale

farming? a) Solutions must include cooperative action, but with <2% of the population on farms, it

must include more than farmers

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c. resistance to the “scientization” of U.s. agriculture (see Chapter 2 in Hassanein 1999) 1. Historically, farmers have been the source and guardians of knowledge about agriculture,

although this has recently changed 2. the development of the land grant system, experiment station, and agricultural

cooperative extension system with a technological and production-centered research agenda removed farmers as the primary source of knowledge

a) More scientific methods were brought to bear in agriculture, but with them specialized technologies and practices that marginalized farmers. their “unscientific” knowledge and lack of financial resources left farmers in an inferior economic and political position.

b) Supporters of the land grant system popularized the notion of farmers as stubborn, ignorant, and foolish, “unscientific.” this notion took hold in the popular and political imagination.

c) Most agricultural scientists during the middle part of the 20th century saw their work as unquestionably good, advancing the frontiers of modern society. they were by and large blind to the negative impacts of their work.

3. there were three responses by farmers to this development a) Following the program proposed by the land grant complex: those who had access to

land, capital, and technology were able to grow and outcompete their neighbors, often buying them out in the process

b) A second group has rejected the entire land grant/cooperative extension project, creating an alternative knowledge base for agriculture. the organic farming movement is an example of this (see Vos 2000).

c) A third approach is that of selectively adopting land grant/cooperative extension advice, and perhaps working to make this system more responsive to the contemporary needs of growers

4. Criticism of the land grant complex a) What are the worldview assumptions underlying modern agricultural science? emphasis

on technology where existing relationships of political and economic power are not questioned.

i. example: the issue of world hunger is often understood solely as a problem of underproduction and not maldistribution of an already overabundant food supply

b) Whose interests has public agricultural science served? i. It has repeatedly served the financial well being of those with the most capital

d. early Organic Movement (see Vos 2000; Sustainable Agriculture Research and education 2012) 1. In england, Lady eve Balfour and Sir Albert Howard were early leaders; in the U.S., J. I.

Rodale along with Rodale press. Howard’s book, An Agricultural Testament, based on his time observing traditional systems in India as well as his own research, greatly influenced Rodale.

2. they were critics of the industrialization of agriculture, arguing that soil health, food quality, and human health were integrally related

3. their ideas were fused with a more general critique of agriculture and society by the counterculture movement during the 1960s and 1970s to create the organic farming movement

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e. Silent Spring by rachel carson, and widespread calls for change 1. Silent Spring’s thesis: Massive, ignorant, needless poisoning of the biosphere 2. Why was Silent Spring so powerful? a) It was an irrefutable critique of the chemical paradigm in agriculture b) It was an effective critique of the entire enterprise of modernization and better living

through technology 3. Social and political impacts of Silent Spring a) people began to question the role of science and technology in agriculture and created

a popular concern about the environmental and human health risks associated with many modern technologies

b) the environmental protection Agency (epA) was created, in part to provide a more objective agency for evaluating pesticide impacts

c) Increased public funding and support for integrated pest management (IpM) 4. Fixed the problems of modern agriculture in the popular imagination. Created political

space for alternatives.

f. critics in the 1970s (see Berry 1977) 1. Jim Hightower and Hard Tomatoes, Hard Times: Calling for public accountability for public

universities and institutions 2. Wendell Berry: A contemporary form of agrarian populism 3. on the margins, a few critics called for land reform in the U.S., especially associated with

publicly funded irrigation works, but these arguments never really found much credence in Washington, D.C.

4. A Time to Choose: the Bergman (president Carter’s Secretary of Agriculture) report on problems in American agriculture

g. alternative agriculture and the development of the concept of sustainability 1. 1989: the national Research Council publishes Alternative Agriculture a) this was a surprising critique of the model agricultural paradigm b) the report was controversial for its message and method 2. the Brundtland Commission of the Un begins to popularize the notion of sustainability a) this Un commission laid the foundation for the 1992 Rio conference on sustainable

development and brought this term into general use b) As a result, the term “sustainable agriculture” gains popularity c) “Sustainability” is a powerful, yet almost undefinable term

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Lecture 2: Imagining Alternatives a. Problematizing the concept of sustainable agriculture: what does agricultural

sustainability Mean? what does it Look Like? (see Allen and Sachs, 1991; www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/concept.htm)

1. Common conceptions of sustainable agriculture and their limitations a) exclusively production oriented, agronomic in nature and farm-centric in focus b) the problems are inaccurately framed as only technical problems and thus requiring

only technological solutions c) Fails to recognize the influence of social institutions on the soundness of farming

practices and the food system d) Fails to equally recognize both the social and environmental problems resulting from

the dominant agricultural model 2. Questioning objectives of sustainable agriculture: “What is it that we want to sustain, or

change?” a) Whose needs should be emphasized? b) Which of their needs should be prioritized? i. Consumers and cheap food prices? ii. environmental quality? iii. Fair prices to growers? iv. Low pesticide residues in foods? v. Workers: Wages, working conditions, or year-round employment? 3. Sustained over what time frame? a) Long-term versus short-term planning 4. What scale does this term get used at? a) Field? Farm? Watershed? Region? nation? Globe? b) the unit of analysis largely determines what needs to be sustained 5. Comprehensive definitions of agricultural sustainability a) Many advocates for sustainable agriculture recognize the need to integrate at least the

following indicators: ecological, economic, and social (see asi.ucdavis.edu/sarep/about-sarep/def/)

b) How shall we define these other qualities? Questions for discussion: i. How do we define “environmental quality”? ii. How do we define social justice? iii. How do we define human health? iv. How do we define economic viability of small farmers? v. How do we define life quality of rural agricultural communities? c) What we define as goals in sustainable agriculture will influence the means and

outcomes

b. agroecology: altieri and gliessman (see agroeco.org, www.agroecology.org) 1. Agroecology defined: Applying the principles of ecology to the design and management

of sustainable agricultural ecosystems 2. Altieri defines agroecology as: A scientific discipline that uses ecological theory to study,

design, manage, and evaluate agricultural systems that are productive but also resource conserving

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3. Strong emphasis on enhancing biological diversity of both the soil ecosystem and terrestrial plant associations in and around agricultural production systems

4. Advantages a) Looks at farms as agroecosystems that are subject to human disturbances b) encourages returning more autonomy to the farmer through farmer as expert c) emphasizes understanding, managing, and enhancing ecological processes for soil

fertility and pest management in order to reduce reliance on costly and damaging external inputs

5. Agroecology also prioritizes food security, social equity, economic viability and resource conservation in its broad view (see also de Schutter 2012 under Resources, Lecture 3)

6. problems a) How big is the system? How big an agroecosystem can be measured or managed? b) What happens if the farm is ecologically sustainable, but not commercially viable?

c. Organic agriculture 1. organic agriculture today (see www.ams.usda.gov/nop/) a) Defined: A system of agriculture that encourages healthy soil and crops through such

practices as nutrient and organic matter recycling, crop rotations, proper tillage, and the strict avoidance of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for at least three years prior to organic certification

2. organic agriculture is currently the fastest-growing sector of the food market (Smith 2012; also see organic trade Association, www.ota.com)

a) U.S. sales of organic in 2010 were 26.7 billion, up from 1 billion in 1990 b) In 2010, 11% of all fruit and vegetable sales were organic c) Mainstream markets were responsible for 54% of organic product sales 3. the development of the organic movement and the national organic Standards (see Vos

2000) a) the rationale behind organic certification: to assure consumers that food has been

produced in accordance with a specific set of conservation farming practices b) the rationale behind the national organic standards: to make the certification standards

for export/import agriculture more uniform 4. Shortcomings of organic production and criticisms of the national organic standards (see

pollan 2001, philpott 2012) a) production practices of most organic growers fall far short of both the agroecological

and the organic ideal (see Guthman 2000) i. off-farm inputs: Chilean nitrate, guanos, mined materials ii. energy use: organic agriculture does not necessarily use less energy, and may in fact

use more iii. Weed control measures: Relies heavily on poorly paid hand labor. Which method is

more sustainable? b) Who serves to benefit most from the national organic program (nop): Food processors? c) nop maintains less stringent standards than previous third-party certifying agencies d) nop places small growers at an economic disadvantage by requiring practices that

require expensive equipment i. example: Compost production requirements (see Unit 1.7, Making and Using

Compost, for information on nop compost-making requirements) e) the effectiveness of the national organic Standards Board as an advisory council for

USDA remains questionable (Strom 2012; Jaffee and Howard 2010)

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f ) the “organic industrial complex”: the replication of the industrial model of agriculture in organics (see Buck et al. 1997; pollan 2001; Howard 2009)

i. the organic commodity chain is identical to that of conventional agriculture 5. Despite shortcomings, organic offers important alternative to conventional agriculture

(philpott 2012) a) Food is produced without synthetic and persistent chemicals (keeping them out of

people, particularly farm workers and farmers). Genetically modified seeds are excluded, meat is produced without constant (technically any) use of antibiotics, and soil-preserving practices are required.

d. alternative agriculture: a third way? (see Swezey and Broom 2000) 1. Integrated pest Management (IpM) and “agricultural partnerships”: Initiatives to

develop management systems for industrial agriculture that do not prohibit the use of agrochemical inputs. Systems are based on agroecological principles and the gathering of appropriate local knowledge of a farming system.

2. Agricultural partnerships are based on a critique of the conventional extension system, which tends to treat growers as passive recipients of knowledge. Influenced by the “farmer-to-farmer” approach to knowledge generation practiced in the developing world.

3. In California these partnerships have reduced the environmental impact of agriculture, and show genuine promise of influencing a large number of growers in some cropping systems

4. Shortcomings of approach: Does not raise questions about the social problems resulting from the current organization of the food and agriculture system

e. re-localizing a food system (see Allen 2004; Clancy 1997; USDA 2014) 1. Strategic choices: Sustainability advocates balancing their interest in improving the

environmental performance of agriculture with other problems in the food system 2. “Localizing” the food system: Connecting local growers with local eaters a) promoted as a way to reduce hunger and enhance the economic viability of smaller

farms that adopt conservation farming practices 3. Criticisms of the modern food system (see Clancy 1997) a) the modern food system as a “dis-integrated” food system i. Consumers have lost a relationship with the production of their foods ii. Growers have lost contact with the eaters that consume the food they grow iii. there are enormous hidden costs associated with the global food system and cheap

food 4. efforts to promote local food systems a) Local food initiatives (e.g., Buy Fresh Buy Local; see www.caff.org) to reduce barriers

between producers and consumers b) Food policy councils, which help institutions and individuals recognize the advantages

of buying local foods, and facilitate interactions with farmers c) Food hubs, places where food can be aggregated from smaller-scale farms to larger

volume buyers d) Farm-to-school efforts, which allow local growers to sell to supportive institutions e) Farmers’ markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) are considered staple

activities in re-localizing food systems f ) Institutionalized in USDA—see Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative (USDA

2014). Goal is to help “ . . . communities scale up local and regional food systems and strengthen their economies.”

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5. the emergence of the community food security movement (see Lecture 3 of this unit for more information)

a) Fundamental assumptions: that all people have a right to access local, nutritious, culturally appropriate, non-emergency food

b) Links anti-hunger efforts with sustainable agriculture, economic development, and social justice advocacy

f. Policy initiatives (see Youngberg et al. 1993; Marshall 2000) 1. Large-scale economic reforms that advocates have not been able to figure out how to

implement in the U.S. a) Land reform: Making small-scale production possible for those without access to large

amounts of capital b) Market reform: preventing large growers, large manufacturers, and intermediaries from

taking advantage of small-scale producers 2. Sustainability at a national scale: Making policies serve this vision a) Greater enforced restrictions on the domestic and international use of pesticides and

synthetic fertilizers b) Ban on the use of Ge organisms until long-term studies provide conclusive evidence on

environmental quality and human health risks c) Legislation leading to the eventual elimination of all toxic pesticides d) Increased federal funding for research on organic and sustainable soil fertility and pest

management practices e) Increased federal funding for research on the development of economically sustainable

regional food systems f ) Increased funding for regional and local food security initiatives g) Increased funding for extension work in training farmers in alternative production

practices h) Increased access to low-interest credit for farmers to use in transitioning from

conventional agriculture to certified organic production practices i) Anti-trust legislation discouraging the concentration of ownership in the food system j) Federal small farm subsidies to increase the adoption of conservation farming practices k) Initiate program to assess the true cost of socially just and environmentally sound

production practices: “true cost accounting” l) Identify actors within the food system responsible for the externalized costs of

production (e.g., pesticide manufactures, farmers) m) Internalize the true costs of production by readjusting price structure of agricultural

products to better represent actual costs of production 3. obstacles to these initiatives a) political forces are deeply invested in the current agricultural model b) the cheap food dilemma 4. Current policies being advocated: See national Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture 2012 5. the U.S. Farm Bill (see national Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture

www.sustainableagriculture.net) a) the influence of the U.S. Farm Bill i. It sets policy for what will be funded regarding agriculture, but it also greatly impacts

food and conservation issues.

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b) Recent outcomes in the 2014 Farm Bill i. More money was allocated to programs for beginning farmers, local food systems,

rural development, organics, and specialty crops. Crop insurance subsidies now have conservation requirements attached, and several riders were rejected that could have harmful impacts on competition, the environment, and commerce. However, other subsidy programs reforms, meant to more fairly distribute subsidies, were not enacted. Food stamps, a large portion of the Farm Bill, were cut significantly.

6. Local policies and initiatives: Sometimes local groups can effect small-scale change. Advocates still need to engage national policy, but there are some opportunities at the local level.

a) Land use policy: Designating food belts b) Directing public institutions to buy from small or local sources

g. summary and conclusion: How do we Promote sustainability in the agriculture and food system?

1. to be effective, any effort has to understand the complexities of agriculture: It is framed by economic, social, and biological processes. All three need to be taken into account.

2. effective social change generally includes oppositional and alternative efforts: evolving reforms and promoting a revolutionary vision at the same time

3. Modern agriculture has been shaped directly by the advance of capitalist social relations and the application of science and technology to production practices. Behind these forces are a whole range of social forces. policy reform is important, but ultimately, addressing these broader forces must be part of efforts to promote a more sustainable agriculture and food system.

Lecture 2: Imagining Alternatives

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Lecture 3: Food Justice—Current Activities to Address Social Justice Issues in the U.S. Food System a. food justice—a definition 1. there are several definitions in use—there is no one agreed-upon description 2. Definition for this discussion: Food justice sees the lack of healthy food in poor

communities as a human rights issue and draws from grassroots struggles and U.S. organizing traditions such as the civil rights and environmental justice movements

b. got social justice? a Quick Overview of the U.s. food Movement (see pollan 2010; Berry 1978; Gottlieb and Joshi 2010; Alkon and Agyeman 2011; Guthman 2004, 2011)

1. Back to the land/organics/Agrarian populism: resistance and alternatives to industrial agriculture (see Lectures 1 and 2, Unit 3.4 for more details)

2. Rising food insecurity and diet-related diseases, food contamination, and environmental externalities of the U.S. food system provoke growing reaction by consumers and producers for alternatives

3. Global food crisis also affect consumers in the United States (Conner et al 2008, Holt-Giménez and peabody 2008)

4. Farmer’s markets, Community Supported Agriculture, food policy councils: the goals of many of these efforts are to democratize and localize the food system.

a) Food policy councils generally work on both of these issues specifically (Harper et al 2009, Food First 2009)

b) Community Supported Agriculture’s (CSA’s) initial aims focused on democracy by sharing the economic risk of farming beyond just the farmer

c) All of these aim to localize the food system more broadly d) For underserved communities, the challenge is to keep the food dollar in the

community where it can recycle 2–5 times, helping to grow the local economy (see Meter 2011)

5. Urban farming/gardening: taking food and diet into our own hands a) Many organizations and local communities have started growing food to increase food

security, provide a more healthy diet, and provide autonomy over the production of food. this follows a worldwide trend: 15–30% of the world’s food is produced through urban farming by 800 million farmers.

b) In Cuba, because of strong government support, Havana, Santiago, and other major cities receive 70% of their fresh fruits and vegetables from urban farmers. Havana produces 1kg of vegetables per capita per day on 70,000 peri/urban hectares (Murphy 1999, Chan and Roach 2012).

6. Foodies: Affluence, pleasure, and the passion for perfect food, questioning mass-food and re-establishing consumer-producer linkages—for those who can afford it. this is challenged by the more progressive wing of the Slow Food Movement, which takes a stand on food justice (Viertel 2012).

7. Community Food Security: From individual food insecurity to community-based solutions, the USDA, and the rise and fall of the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC)

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a) In 1994 the CFSC tries to unite anti-hunger, sustainable agriculture, environmentalists, farm labor advocates, and health and nutrition groups behind the “Community Food Security empowerment Act,” which is attacked by conservatives. the coalition fractures as each group negotiates for its own interests but gains relatively little in the 1996 “Freedom to Farm” Bill. the 2002 Farm Bill includes the Community Food projects program and the concept of “Community Food Security” is integrated into the USDA.

b) Despite internal divisions amongst CFSC’s different groups’ interests, the 2008 Farm Bill marked a high point in the Coalition’s impact on the Farm Bill and its profile as the national organization representing the food movement. the CFSC’s yearly gathering began with 30 people and grew to over 1000 at the last Conference held in oakland in 2011. these served to network many organizations and build broad public interest and awareness in the Community Food Movement. this helped influence the Farm Bill to increase its funding for food stamps, funding for specialty crop farmers, farm to school, new farmers, etc. Internal struggles at the CFSC over issues of white privilege and the tension between food justice and food security approaches to social change led to many organizations made up of people of color leaving and forming the Growing Food and Justice for All Initiative.

c) the global food crisis, followed by the global recession and the turn towards fiscal conservatism, combined with internal difficulties, led to the CFSC’s financial decline. the CFSC shut down in August 2012 after 16 years of food movement leadership, creating a political-institutional vacuum that has yet to be filled.

8. Food Justice: Dismantling racism in the food system from farm to fork, Growing Food and Justice for All Initiative, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Food Chain Worker’s Alliance, Restaurant opportunity Center, U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance (USFSA)

a) the structural racism in the food system is reflected not only in the lack of access to fresh, healthy food in underserved communities, but by the poor wages and labor conditions of food workers, many of whom are immigrants, and discrimination in land, credit, and commodity markets, all of which disproportionately impact people of color. the Food Justice movement in the U.S. seeks equal access to healthy food, fair wages and good working conditions, and an end to discrimination against farmers of color.

b) Growing Food and Justice for All Initiative, a network hosted by Growing power (www.growingpower.org) works to dismantle racism to bring about new, healthy, and sustainable food systems and support multicultural leadership in impoverished communities; see more at Supplement 3, the Good Food Revolution at Growing power, in Unit 1.7, Making and Growing Compost

c) Food Chain Workers Alliance and members of the Restaurant opportunity Center (RoC) work to improve wages and working conditions of food workers, most of whom are people of color

d) Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) works to end slavery in Florida’s tomato fields and provide workers with a decent wage. CIW has waged a highly successful Fair Food campaign/boycott with students and churches (see www.foodchainsfilm.com).

e) the U.S Food Sovereignty Alliance awards the yearly Food Sovereignty prize (in opposition to the World Food prize) to recognize organizations that are democratizing food systems and rebuilding local economies from the bottom up

c. the Political economy behind food justice (see Holt-Giménez, patel and Shattuck 2010) 1. the world food crisis and the construction of the corporate food regime 2. overproduction, hunger, food insecurity, and diet-related diseases 3. Land grabs, concentration, and financialization, a rural and urban trend undermining food

security (Wang, Holt-Giménez and Shattuck 2011)

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d. roots and branches of the food justice Movement (see Holt-Giménez & Wang 2011; Holt-Giménez et.al. 2011; Holt-Giménez 2010; Jayaraman 2013; Holmes 2013)

1. environmental justice: Analysis of disproportionate negative externalities systematically visited on underserved populations of color is tuned on the food system and diet-related diseases

2. Liberation struggles: the Black panthers’ 10-point platform for Black liberation includes demands for the right to food, land, and health. First national children’s community breakfast program without philanthropic or government support (patel 2012).

3. Civil rights/human rights: Right to food based on national struggles for civil rights and international human rights

4. Anti-hunger: How overproduction creates new consumer markets, aid institutions (food pantries, food banks) and ensures food insecurity

5. Farm/food labor: Farm and food workers are the most food insecure and physically/legally vulnerable workforce in the nation, however, labor rights, and wages are the organizing principles of this primarily immigrant workforce (UFW, CIW, RoC, Food Chain Workers Alliance—see above) (Brent 2010)

6. Youth and food justice: the emerging leadership for grassroots social change (Steele 2010) 7. Agroecology: the science of sustainable agriculture has applications in the U.S. and in

urban settings (Schutter 2011) 8. Spreading resistance to the corporate food regime and deepening of food justice

alternatives: a) From Fair trade Coffee (Bacon et al 2012) to Domestic Fair trade (Domestic Fair trade

Association, www.thedfta.org) b) Food bombs, Food hubs and Food Commons: the different forms of activism c) Are urban gardens gentrifying neighborhoods? d) Food celebrities: Who speaks for the Food Movement?

e. food security, food justice, or food sovereignty? (see Holt-Giménez and Shattuck 2011a, Holt-Giménez and Shattuck 2011b, Holt-Giménez and Wang 2011)

1. Food regimes and counter-movements; the corporate food regime, neoliberalization, and the food movement as an historic counter-movement

2. Food enterprise, food security, food justice, food sovereignty: the major trends and characteristics in the food regime and the food movement, their main institutions, orientation, model, approach to the food crisis and guiding documents

3. Cooptation, division, fragmentation, and stratification: the struggle for hegemony amongst neoliberal, reformist, progressive, and radical forces

4. the pivotal role of food justice: How the food justice movement determines the political direction of the food movement in the U.S.

5. Repolitization, convergence in diversity, strategic vs tactical alliances: the political challenges to transforming the U.S. food system

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Discussion Questions

sUstainabLe agricULtUre & sUstainabLe fOOd systeMs, LectUres 1–3

1. What surprised you most about the activities resisting the conventional food and agriculture system?

2. What strategies are you most familiar with?

3. Which ones do you want to learn more about, and why?

4. Where do you think the food movement is going? How will it evolve next?

5. What does a socially just food system look like?

6. How does this socially just food system that you envision relate to what you hope to do in the future?

Unit 3.4 | Part 3 – 89Sustainable Agriculture & Sustainable Food SystemsReferences & Resources

sUggested readings fOr stUdents: LectUres 1 & 2 (described beLOw)

• Allen,Patricia.2004

• Danbom,David.1997

• Pollan,Michael.2001

sUggested readings fOr stUdents: LectUre 3

• Holt-Giménez,EricandYeeWang.2011

LectUres 1 & 2

Print resOUrces

Allen,Patricia.2004.Together at the Table: Sus-tainability and Sustenance in the American System. UniversityPark:PennsylvaniaStateUniversityPress.

Examines the growth and development of alternative food system initiatives in the U.S., including: The growth of organic farming and the development of the USDA National Organic Program; the growth in popularity of direct marketing relationships such as farmers’ markets and community-supported agriculture (CSA); the growth of urban agriculture and community garden programs; the increase in natural and social science research programs focused on sustainable food and farming systems.

Allen,Patricia.1993.Food for the Future: Condi-tions and Contradictions of Sustainability. New York:WileyandSons.

Challenged definitions of sustainable agriculture that did not incorporate social issues, such as justice, gender, ethnicity, or class. If advocates do not heighten their awareness of the social forces pressing on conventional agriculture, they run the risk of reproducing the same social problems in alternative agriculture. This book had a significant impact on academic thinking in the sustainable agriculture movement. The chapter by Allen and Sachs is particularly important and influential.

Allen,Patricia,andCarolynSachs.1991.What Do We Want to Sustain? Developing a Comprehensive Vision of Sustainable Agriculture. Sustainability in theBalance,IssuePaperNo.2.SantaCruz,CA:Cen-ter for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems, UC Santa Cruz. casfs.ucsc.edu/about/publications

A critique of definitions of sustainable agriculture that are limited only to what happens on the farm. Challenges its readers to reformulate definitions of sustainable agriculture to include gender, race, class, and is-sues in society at large. More appropriate for lower-division students than Allen 1993 (see above).

Allen,Patricia,andMartinKovach.2000.Thecapitalistcompositionoforganic:Thepotentialofmarkets in fulfilling the promise of organic agricul-ture. Agriculture and Human Values17:221-232.

Explores the problems and possibilities associated with the increasing demand for organic agriculture.

Berry,Wendell.1996.The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture.SanFrancisco:SierraClub.

A classic in contemporary agrarian philosophy written in an accessible style. Berry critiques the dominant industrial agriculture paradigm with his common sense prose, exposing the social, economic and ecological damage it caused. For this course, chapters 3, 4, and 9 are most appropriate. “The Ecological Crisis as a Crisis of Agriculture”describes the way conservationists and capitalists both objectify land and split it off from human culture. “The Agricultural Crisis as a Crisis of Culture” describes the social implications of a culture’s alienation from the soil. “Margins” relates several stories of farmers who are intentionally creating alternatives.

Bosso,ChristopherJ.1987.Pesticides and Politics: The Life Cycle of a Public Issue.Chapter2,ThePesticidesParadigm,pages21-45,andchapter4,TheApotheosisofPesticides,61-79.Pittsburgh:UniversityofPittsburgh.

This book describes the enduring impact Silent Spring had on U.S. agriculture and pesticide policy.

Buck,Daniel,ChristinaGetz,andJulieGuthman.1997.Fromfarmtotable:Theorganicvegetablecommodity chain of northern California. Sociologia Ruralis 37(1):3-20.

Describes the role that organic certification has had in shaping organic agricultural production

References & Resources

Part 3 –90 | Unit 3.4 Sustainable Agriculture & Sustainable Food Systems References & Resources

and how the distribution of this produce has begun to mimic that of the conventional food system. Places these developments in the broader framework of agrarian political economy.

Carson,Rachel.2002.Silent Spring.Boston:Houghton Mifflin.

This book probably did more to instigate the environmental movement of the 1960s than any other. Unintentionally, it appears to have contributed to the alienation of the U.S. public from agricultural issues. Chapters 1 and 2 provide an overview of the chemical agriculture mindset, and chapters 3 and 4 introduce toxic agrochemicals and their environmental impacts. Chapter 17 describes alternative trajectories for human-environment relationships.

Clancy,Kate.1997.Reconnectingfarmersandcitizens in the food system. In Visions of American Agriculture,W.Lockeretz(ed).Ames:IowaStateUniversityPress.

Discusses the major factors that have weakened the links between farmers and the rest of the U.S. population. Clancy then provides criteria that must be met for a more integrated food system, including a more agriculturally literate society, local food security, and supportive institutions and policies. An ideal chapter for a beginning discussion of what needs to happen off the farm to promote social sustainability.

Danbom,David.1997.PastvisionsofAmericanagriculture. In Visions of American Agriculture, W. Lockeretz(ed.).Ames,Iowa:IowaStateUniversityPress.

Introduces the history of conflicting views of U.S. agriculture: Agriculture as enterprise vs. agriculture as social enterprise. Provides a helpful introduction to the history of American agrarian populism.

Goodwyn,Lawrence.1978.The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America. OxfordUniversityPress.

Guthman,Julie.2000.Raisingorganic:Growerpractices in California. Agriculture and Human Values17:257-266.

This article is based on Julie Guthman’s fieldwork investigating the actual practices of organic growers in California. She discovered that organic farms usually comply with organic regulations, but still fall short of the

agroecological ideal, with larger farms and mixed organic/conventional farms least likely to fulfill this ideal. Describes the way in which organic certification has helped the organic farming sector grow and be-come more like conventional agriculture.

Hassanein,Neva.1999.Changing the Way America Farms: Knowledge and Community in the Sustain-able Agriculture Movement.Lincoln,Nebraska:UniversityofNebraskaPress.

Describes the emergence of alternative networks of agricultural knowledge among dairy farmers in Wisconsin, with a special emphasis on issues of gender. Chapter 2, “Knowledge questions in the sustainable agriculture movement,” provides an excellent overview of how farmers resisted the hegemony of Land Grant University scientists.

Howard,SirAlbert.1947.The Soil and Health. NewYork:SchockenBooks.

This is an early classic in the organic movement, presenting many of the underlying ecological and philosophical principles still relevant today.

Howard,PhilipH.2009.ConsolidationintheNorth American organic food processing sector, 1997to2007.International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food 16(1):13-30. www.ijsaf.org/archive/16/1/howard.pdf

Jaffee,Daniel&PhilipH.Howard.2010.Corpo-rate cooptation of organic and fair trade standards. Agriculture and Human Values 27(4),387-399.

Kloppenburg,Jack,JohnHendrickson,andGeorgeW.Stevenson.1996.Comingintothefoodshed.Agriculture and Human Values13(3):33-42.

Explores the conceptual and practical opportunities of organizing agricultural production around “food-sheds.” Just as bioregionalists propose watersheds as an organizing framework for activism, so agricultural activists are working for local economies of food. Students often respond with enthusiasm to the imaginary this article proposes.

Marshall,Andrew.2000.Sustainingsustainableagriculture:TheriseandfalloftheFundforRuralAmerica. Agriculture and Human Values17:267-277.

Marshall details the challenges facing any policy initiative in support of sustainable alternatives,

Unit 3.4 | Part 3 – 91Sustainable Agriculture & Sustainable Food Systems

and the political and economic obstacles such an initiative must overcome. Helpful complement to Youngberg et al.

Mooney,PatrickH.,andTheoJ.Majka.1995.Farmers’ and Farmworkers’ Movements: Social Pro-test in American Agriculture.TwaynePublishers.

National Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture. 2012.Farmingforthefuture:Asustainableagricul-tureagendaforthe2012foodandfarmbill.Wash-ingtonDC.sustainableagriculture.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/2012_3_21NSACFarmBillPlatform.pdf

NationalResearchCouncil.1989.Alternative Ag-riculture.Washington,DC:NationalAcademyPress.

The highest-ranking report up to that time to legitimize alternatives to the high-input, high-chemical-use model.

Philpott,Tom.2012.HowtheNYTimeswenttoofar in slamming big organic. Mother Jones. July 11.www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/07/has-corprate-influence-turned-organic-fraud

Pollan,Michael.2001.Behindtheorganic-industrialcomplex. New York Times MagazineMay13.www.nytimes.com/2001/05/13/magazine/13ORGANIC.html

This investigative journalism piece reached a wide audience, and brought the disturbing news that the organic ideal in the minds of many alternative consumers is very far from the reality of the contemporary organic food processing and distribution system. Useful to read side by side with the Kloppenburg et al. article.

Rosset,PeterA.,andMiguelA.Altieri.1997.Agro-ecologyversusinputsubstitution:Afundamentalcontradiction of sustainable agriculture. Society and Natural Resources 10(3):283-295.

Critiques efforts to make conventional agriculture more sustainable, claiming that only a fully integrated agroecological farming system is truly sustainable.

Smith,Ned.2012.Organicfoodsalesgrowthout-paces rest of grocery industry. BusinessNewsDaily. April23.www.businessnewsdaily.com/2404-organic-industry-healthy-growth.html

Strom,Stephanie.2012.Has‘organic’beenover-sized? New York Times.July7.www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/business/organic-food-purists-worry-about-big-companies-influence.html?pagewanted=3&_r=3&hp

SustainableAgricultureResearchandEducation.2012.History of Organic Farming in the United States. www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Bulletins/Transi-tioning-to-Organic-Production/Text-Version/History-of-Organic-Farming-in-the-United-States

Swezey,SeanL.,andJanetC.Broome.2000.Growth predicted in biologically integrated and or-ganic farming. California Agriculture54(4):26-36.

Describes the growing interest in promoting biologically integrated farming systems in California, a “third way” farming system that draws from knowledge gained by organic systems, reducing yet not fully abandoning agrochemical usage. A provocative companion to Rosset and Altieri.

Thompson,PaulB.1997.Agrarianvalues:Theirfu-ture place in U.S. agriculture. In Visions of American Agriculture,W.Lockeretz(ed.).Ames,Iowa:IowaStateUniversityPress.

Thompson develops the two main currents in U.S. agriculture proposed by Danbom (see above), describing the values and ethics inherent in each, and how activists might secure a future for more communitarian ethics in the future of U.S. agriculture.

UnitedStatesDepartmentofAgriculture.2014. Knowyourfarmerknowyourfood.www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=KNOWYOURFARMER)

Vos,Timothy.2000.Visionsofthemiddleland-scape:Organicfarmingandthepoliticsofnature.Agriculture and Human Values17:245-256.

Youngberg,Garth,NeillSchaller,andKathleenMerrigan.1993.ThesustainableagriculturepolicyagendaintheUnitedStates:Politicsandprospects.In Food for the Future,P.Allen,ed.NewYork:JohnWiley.

Reviews the impact and implications of sustainability for agricultural policy making. Describes the difficulty of translating the values and visions of sustainable agriculture into concrete policy, and the tendency for political leaders to adopt the discourse of sustainability yet little more. A useful roadmap for charting a course towards improved policy efforts.

References & Resources

Part 3 –92 | Unit 3.4 Sustainable Agriculture & Sustainable Food Systems

web-based resOUrces

Agroecology in Actionwww.agroeco.org/ Miguel Altieri’s website has several useful summary essays about agroecology and agroecological principles. The section titled “Agroecology and Modern Agriculture” has the essays most relevant to this chapter.

National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculturewww.sustainableagriculture.net/index.htm The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture is an umbrella organization for many local groups working for more sustainable agricultural policies in the U.S.

SAREP:WhatisSustainableAgriculture?www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/sarep/Provides a nice overview of the key themes in sustainable agriculture, especially as they relate to California. Presents information on natural resources, production practices, and the social and economic context of sustainability issues.

Union of Concerned Scientistswww.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/

The Union of Concerned Scientists runs a “Food and Agriculture” Campaign, whose goal is to create a more sustainable food system. They report on is-sues such as anti-biotic misuse, genetic engineering, industrial agriculture and the Farm Bill.

videOs

Goodbye Mrs. Ant.1992.ABBC-TVproductioninassociation with Lionheart Television International, Inc.Northbrook,IL:CoronetFilm&Video(58minutes).

An overview of the ecological impact of agricultural chemicals on the environment, and the Silent Spring-inspired efforts to regulate them. A good review of the popularity of DDT and the scientific enterprise that supported it.

My Father’s Garden.1995.MirandaProductionsInc.; producer, Abigail Wright; director, Miranda Smith;writer,NathanielKahn(58minutes).

Weaves together the personal stories of the loss of family farms, the role of chemical pesticides in changing the structure of American agriculture, and Fred Kirschmann’s efforts to make his farm ecologically and economically sustainable. Available from: www.bullfrogfilms.com

References & Resources

The Living Land.1998.FoundationforGlobalCommunity(27minutes).

A thoughtful set of interviews with John Jeavons, Wes Jackson, Alice Waters, and Mas Masumoto on the values and practices of alternative agriculture. Available from: www.globalcommunity.org/cgvideo/land.htm

MiguelAltieri.2012.Whyisagroecologythesolu-tion to hunger and food security. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yFvD8wuLmU

LectUre 3instrUctOr’s nOte: Many of the resources listed below areoriginalsources.Forconcise1,800–2,000wordsyntheses of the issues in this lecture, please see Food First Backgrounders referenced in the outline. These are very accessible for undergraduates.

Alkon, Alison Hope, and Julian Agyeman (eds.). 2011.Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class, and Sustainability. Cambridge,MA:MITPress.

This edited book offers a series of narratives exploring how race and class are intertwined in the food system. Its premise is that much of the food movement has come from white and middle-class people, who come from a shared perspective. This book intends to provide a broader critique of the industrialized food system, including injustice in the conversation.

Bacon,Chris,etal.2012.The Struggle for Food Justice in Fair Trade.CA:FoodFirstBackgrounder,Winter2012.foodfirst.org/publication/the-struggle-for-food-justice-in-fair-trade/

Berry,Wendell.1986.The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture.SanFrancisco,CA:SierraClub.

Brent,Zoe.2010.Food Workers—Food Justice: Linking Food Labor and Immigrant Rights. Oak-land,CA:FoodFirstBackgrounder,Summer2010.foodfirst.org/publication/food-workers-food-justice-linking-food-labor-and-immigrant-rights/

Chan,MayLingChan,andEduardoFreyreRoach.2012.Unfinished Puzzle—Cuban Agriculture: The Challenges, Lessons, and Opportunities. Oakland, CA:FoodFirstBooks.foodfirst.org/shop/books-dvds/unfinished-puzzle-cuban-agriculture-the-challenges-lessons-and-opportunities/

FoodFirst.2009.Democracy in Action: Food Policy Councils,CA:FoodFirstBackgrounder,Fall2009.foodfirst.org/publication/democracy-in-action-food-policy-councils/

Unit 3.4 | Part 3 – 93Sustainable Agriculture & Sustainable Food Systems

deSchutter,Olivier.2012.Agroecology: A Path to Realizing the Right to Food.Oakland,CA:FoodFirstBackgrounder,Summer2011.foodfirst.org/publication/agroecology-a-path-to-realizing-the-right-to-food/

GlobalExchange.Anti-Oppression Reader.2006.www.seac.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/AO_Read-er_2007.pdf

An excellent resource for individuals and groups who are working to address social justice issues, both within the food system and outside of it. The purpose of the manual is to help create safe spaces for all to be valued and heard. The articles explore how oppression exists and manifests in its many forms, how we can see our role in it, and to ultimately to “. . . increase awareness about multi-paradigm experiences and increase understanding about responsibility and accountability of systems of power and privilege” p.2.

Gottlieb,Robert,andAnupamaJoshi.2010.Food Justice,Cambridge,MA:MITPress.

This book describes the myriad issues pertaining to food justice, such as farmworkers’ and meat processing workers’ conditions, food access issues, and over-processing of food. The book also describes the food justice movement that has arisen from these conditions. It tells the stories of groups and individuals working to make change, both in the U.S. and internationally.

Guthman,Julie.2011.Weighing In: Obesity, Food Justice, and the Limits of Capitalism. Berkeley,CA:UniversityofCaliforniaPress.

This book critiques the efforts and focus on addressing obesity. It also explores why the food system creates cheap and processed foods, why we consumer it and how the food movements solution of going lo-cal and fresh is reproduces inequalities.

Guthman,Julie.2004.Agrarian Dreams: The Para-dox of Organic Farming in California.Berkeley,CA:UniversityofCaliforniaPress.

This book summarizes the research of one of the first comprehensive studies of organics. It outlines how the ideas of organics are not necessarily manifesting as hoped, at least in California. The ideal of small-scale family growers is not as evident as the industrialization of organics.

References & Resources

Harper,Althea,AlisonAlkon,AnnieShattuck,EricHolt-Giménez,andFrancesLambrick.2009.Food Policy Councils: Lessons Learned.FoodFirstDevel-opmentReport#21Dec.2009.foodfirst.org/publica-tion/food-policy-councils-lessons-learned/

Holmes,Seth.2013.Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States. Berkeley, CA:UniversityofCaliforniaPress.

Based on five years of embedded anthropol-ogical research, this book explores the lives of Mexican migrant farmworkers. The author documents their experiences, having traveled with the farmworkers from Oaxaca up to the west coast of California. It includes the experience of border crossing, working in the fields, attempting to get medical care, and of daily lives. The author also provides deepening “. . . understanding of the ways in which socially structured suffering comes to be perceived as normal and natural in society and in health care, especially through imputations of ethnic body difference.”

HoltGiménez,Eric,andAnnieShattuck.2011a.Foodcrises,foodregimesandfoodmovements:rumblings of re-form or tides of transformation? The Journal of Peasant Studies38:1,109–144

Holt-Giménez,Eric,andAnnieShattuck.2011b.Occupy the Food System: Building a Vision of Transformation. Oakland,CA:FoodFirstBack-grounder,Nov2011.foodfirst.org/publication/occupy-the-food-system-building-a-vision-of-transformation/

Holt-Giménez,EricandYeeWang.2011.Reformortransformation? The pivotal role of food justice in the U.S. food movement. Race/Ethnicity: Multidisci-plinary Global Contexts5:1,FoodJustice(Autumn2011),pp.83-102.

Holt-Giménez,Eric(Editor).2011.Food Move-ments Unite! Strategies to Transform Our Food System. Oakland,CA:FoodFirstBooks.

This book highlights the many efforts worldwide to transform the food system. Twenty-one people working for change have contributed to the chapters, from famers to consumers, urban and rural, all bring us a glimpse of the “unprecedented ‘movement of movements.’”

Holt-Giménez,Eric.2010.Food Security, Food Jus-tice, or Food Sovereignty?Oakland,CA:FoodFirstBackgrounder,Winter2010.foodfirst.org/publication/food-security-food-justice-or-food-sovereignty/

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Holt-Giménez,EricandLorenPeabody.2008.From Food Rebellions to Food Sovereignty: Urgent Call to Fix a Broken Food System.Oakland,CA:FoodFirstBackgrounder,Spring2008.foodfirst.org/publication/from-food-rebellions-to-food-sovereignty-urgent-call-to-fix-a-broken-food-system/

Jayaraman,Saru.2013.Behind the Kitchen Door. CornellUniversityPress.

The author unveils the extent to which food service workers live below the poverty line, endure illegal treatment (withholding of wages and overtime pay), and experience race and gender discrimination. She also points out how even restaurants focused on qualities of the food movement, such as promoting local and sustainable, don’t necessarily treat their employees well or even fairly. She also points to the many reasons why it matters—human rights and dignity—to the simple correlation in research that restaurants that don’t treat their workers well are more likely to have health-related food practice violations. Very en-gaging to read. Stories can be useful for class discussions. She also provides potential solutions, with her primary goal to improve the lives of those working in the food service industry.

Meter,Ken.2011.Localfoodsarekeytoeconomicrecovery. In Food Movements Unite! Strategies to Transform Our Food Systems. Oakland,CA:FoodFirst Books.

Murphy,Catherine.1999.Cultivating Havana: Urban Agriculture and food Security in Years of Cri-sis.Oakland,CA:FoodFirstDevelopmentReportNo.12,May1999.foodfirst.org/publication/cultivat-ing-havana-urban-agriculture-and-food-security-in-the-years-of-crisis/

Patel,Raj.2012.Survival Pending Revolutions: What the Black Panthers Can Teach the U.S. Food Movement.Oakland,CA:FoodFirstBackgrounder,Summer2012.foodfirst.org/publication/survival-pend-ing-revolution-what-the-black-panthers-can-teach-the-us-food-movement/

Pollan,Michael.2010.FoodMovementRising.New York Review of Books,June10,2010.

This short article outlines the rising discontent with our current food system and describes aspects of the “movement,” or multiple efforts working to address the problems from different vantage points. What is included in

the movement in this article is drawn from the books he is reviewing, so it is not all inclusive.

Shattuck, Annie, Heidi Conner, Juliana Mandell, andMeeraVelu,2008.The Food Crisis Comes Home: Empty Food Banks, Rising Costs—Symp-toms of a Hungrier Nation.Oakland,CA:FoodFirstBackgrounder,Fall2008.foodfirst.org/publica-tion/the-food-crisis-comes-home-empty-food-banks-rising-costs-hungrier-nation/

Steele,Anim.2010.Youth and Food Justice: Les-sons from the Civil Rights Movement.Oakland,CA:FoodFirstBackgrounder,Fall2010.foodfirst.org/publication/youth-and-food-justice-lessons-from-the-civil-rights-movement/

Toi.2013.Frankly Not About Food Forests. www.blackgirldangerous.org/2013/09/frankly-not-about-food-forests/

The author, a community activist and organizer, identifies several ways in which the work of white people on food system issues in communities of color can be problematic. Toi’s narrative addresses historical and current structural racism and discrimination facing people of color in relation to the food system, and related feelings associated with this long history.

Viertel,Josh.2012.Beyond Voting with Your Fork: From Enlightened Eating to Movement Building. Oakland,CA:FoodFirstBackgrounder,Spring2012.foodfirst.org/publication/beyond-voting-with-your-fork-from-enlightened-eating-to-movement-build-ing/

Wang,Yi,EricHolt-GiménezandAnnieShattuck.2011.Grabbing the Food Deserts. Oakland,CA:FoodFirstBackgrounder,Spring2011.foodfirst.org/publication/grabbing-the-food-deserts/

videO

Food Chains: The Revolution in America’s Fields. 2014.DirectedbySanjayRawal.

www.foodchainsfilm.comThe narrative of the film focuses on the efforts of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers or CIW, a group of tomato pickers from Southern Florida who are working to create more justice labor conditions.

References & Resources